Multiple deflector discharge head for fire protection systems

ABSTRACT

A discharge nozzle in which a hollow body member is adapted for receiving and discharging a fluid and supports a pair of deflectors which discharge the fluid in a substantially continuous uniform pattern of droplets.

[75] Inventor:

United States Patent [1 1 Todtenkopf MULTIPLE DEFLECTOR DISCHARGE HEADFOR FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS Norbert F. Todtenkopf, Lexington, Mass.

[73] Assignee: Factory Mutual Research Corporation, Norwood, Mass.

22 Filed: Mar. 28, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 345,555

[52] US. Cl 169/37, 239/500, 239/504 [51] Int. Cl. A62c 37/14 [58] Fieldof Search 239/500, 504; 169/37 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,931,689 10/1933 Evans ..239/500X [45] Apr. 9, 1974v PrimaryExaminer-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examiner-Andres Kashnikow Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Lane, Aitken, Dunner & Ziems; Warren B. Kice [57]ABSTRACT A discharge nozzle in which a hollow body member is adapted forreceiving and discharging a fluid and supports a pair of deflectorswhich discharge the fluid in a substantially continuous uniform patternof droplets.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures MULTIPLE DEFLECTOR DISCHARGE HEAD FOR FIREPROTECTION SYSTEMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates toa discharge head for fire protection systems and, more particularly, tosuch a head incorporating a plurality of deflectors for dischargingextinguishant in a relatively large, continuous pattern.

Fire protection systems for protecting industrial and commercialproperties have traditionally employed thermal releasable sprinklerheads located in an elevated position with respect to the space to beprotected. The sprinkler headsare supplied with a suitableextinguishant, such as water, by a pipe network of mains, risers,crossmains, and branch lines. The heads usually have relatively smalldischarge openings, and are spaced a relatively short distance apart,such as feet. On actuation of each head by collapse of a thermalresponsive linkage, the extinguishant stream issuing from its dischargeopening impinges against a disc which is serrated to break up thedroplets into a fine mist-like spray and whichdeflects same in agenerally hemispherical pattern.

Although automatic sprinkler systems employing these type heads havebeen effective in protecting property against loss or damage by fire,the trend during recent years towards the use of high storageenclosures, coupled with the increased use of plastics and other highlyflammable materials, has presented new challenges for such systems. Forexample, recent extensive studies with actual and synthetically producedfire plumes have shown that in enclosed spaces of twenty feet andhigher, the updraft or chimney effect caused by convection alone issufficient to prevent the freefalling spray produced by the sprinklerheads from penetrating the rising fire plume and reaching the burningfuel surfaces. Therefore, these heads with their abovementionedlow-capacity discharges, often are unable to effect a sufficientpenetration of the rising fire plume to aid in effective prevention ofthe spread of same.

Although attempts have been made to compensate for the low capacities ofthese heads by increasing the number of heads and decreasing the spacingbetween the heads, several problems developed. First of all, such anincrease in the number of heads is expensive. Secondly, a portion of thehemispherical discharge pattern from the heads has a radial componentwhich, in the proper circumstances, would impinge against and inhibitthe actuation of its adjacent head. Thus some heads located directlyabove the fire would often not be actuated until some more remotelylocated heads are actuated.

One of the most significant recent developments in an attempt to improveupon the sprinkler head in the above context is the direct dischargenozzle which incorporates a relatively large outlet orifice, and whichdischarges the extinguishant directly towards the fire in the form ofrelatively large droplets which easily penetrate the fire plume andprovide an improved firefighting capability.

However, the application of these direct discharge nozzles can berelatively expensive, especially when used in large systems, since theyrequire relatively large extinguishant supplies and new piping systemsand therefore cannot be used to replace existing sprinkler heads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the presentinvention to provide a nozzle for discharging fire extinguishant whichincorporates all the advantages of the direct discharge nozzle mentionedabove yet discharges the extinguishant in a relatively large unifonndischarge pattern.

Toward the fulfillment of this and other objects, the nozzle of thepresent invention comprises a hollow body member having an inlet adaptedfor connection to a source of fluid and an outlet for discharging saidfluid in a spray of droplets, and first and second deflec tors supportedby said body member for deflecting the fluid discharging from saidoutlet in a first and second spray pattern, respectively, each of saiddeflectors forming a flat continuous deflecting surface and beingpositioned relative to each other so that said first and second spraypatterns form a substantially continuous uniform pattern of droplets ofsubstantially the same size as when discharged from said outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational viewdepicting the discharge nozzle of the present invention incorporated ina fire extinguishing system;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; andv FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but depicting the nozzle in avertical cross-sectional view after actuation thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring specifically to FIGS.1 and 20f the drawings, the discharge nozzle of the present invention isshown in general by the reference numeral 10 and comprises a hollowcylindrical body member 12, one end portion of which is threaded asshown in 14 for connection to a tee connector 16 for supplyingextinguishant, such as water, thereto. The connector 16 forms a portionof a piping network in a fixed fire extinguishing system that includestwo pipes 18 and 20 also connected to the connector. It is understoodthat, in a typical installation, several nozzles 10 and their associatedpiping would be supported from the ceiling of the structure to beprotected, in a conventional manner.

The other end portion of the nozzle 10 defines an outlet orifice 22 fordischarging the extinguishant and is normally closed by means of a valveor plug member 24.

A relatively large support nut 26 threadably engages the outer wall ofthe body member 12 near the outlet orifice 22 and supports two supportrods 28 and 30 which, in turn, support a deflector 32 at a distance fromthe outlet orifice 22. As better shown in FIG. 2, the deflector 32 is inthe form of a flat disc cut-out in a manner to define an opening 32awith a support strut 34 extending thereacross.

A release device 36 is supported between the strut 34 and the plug 24 tohold the latter in place and may be of a conventional design such as aglass container filled with alcohol, so that upon expansion ofthe-alcohol in response to a predetermined elevated temperature in itsvicinity, the glass will break and release the plug from the outletorifice 22.

A second deflector 40 is attached, via a rod 42, to the strut 34 of thedeflector 30 and extends downwardly therefrom, as viewed in FIG. 1. Thedeflector 40 is in the form of a continuous flat disc of approximatelythe same diameter as, and substantially aligned with, the opening 32a inthe deflector 32.

In operation, the release device 36 will break in response to apredetermined elevated temperature in its vicinity to cause the plug 24to discharge from the outlet orifice 22 under the pressure of theextinguishant in the body portion 12. This releases the extinguishantand causes same to discharge from the nozzle in the patterns shown inFIG. 3. The reference letter A refers to the relatively wide patternachieved by virtue of the droplets from the outlet orifice 22 beingdeflected directly by the deflector 30. As shown, the portion of theextinguishant not deflected by the deflector 32 passes through theopening 32a and is deflected by the deflector 40 into the pattern shownby the reference letter B.

It is noted from FIG. 3 that the diameters of the deflectors 32 and 40are slightly larger than the diameters of the patterns of the respectivesprays striking them. This, plus the fact that the deflectors defineflat continuous deflecting surfaces, minimizes a breaking up of thespray of extinguishant from the outlet orifice 22 and thus insures thatdroplets of a relatively large size will be formed which enables theextinguishant to better penetrate the fire plume and results in anincreased fire fighting efficiency.

Also as a result of the foregoing, a substantially continuous dischargepattern of relatively large droplets of extinguishant is achieved over arelatively large area, thus eliminating the need for close spacingbetween nozzles and relatively large extinguishant supplies.

Although the nozzle of the present invention has been described in apendent position relative to the pipes 18 and 20, it is understood thatit can easily be adapted to an upright position. In the latter case, the

deflectors 32 and 40 would be arranged so that the deflector 40 wouldinitially deflect the main flow of extinguishant into the fill-inpattern while the deflector 32 would deflect the flow from the outletnot deflected by the deflector 32 into the relatively wide pattern.Also, the plug 24 may be hinged, or otherwise connected, to the body 12to prevent it from interfering with the discharge of the water from theoutlet 22.

Of course, other variations of the specific construction and arrangementof the nozzle disclosed above can be made by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the invention as defined in the appended claims.1

I claim:

1. A discharge head comprising a hollow body member having an inletadapted for connection to a source of fluid and an outlet fordischarging said fluid, a first deflector supported by said body memberin a spaced relation to said outlet, a plug for said outlet, thermalresponsive means supported by said first deflector and engaging saidplug for normally supporting said plug in said outlet, said means beingresponsive to a predetermined temperature in the vicinity of said headfor releasing said engagement and permitting the discharge of said plugand therefore said fluid from said outlet, said first deflector adaptedto deflect a portion of the fluid discharging from said outlet in anannular spray pattern and adapted to pass the remaining portion of saidfluid through a 'central opening formed therethrough, and a seconddeflector supported by said first deflector in a spaced relation to saidfirst deflector, the size of said second deflector being substantiallyequal to the size of said opening in said first deflector for deflectingsaid remaining portion of said fluid in a spray pattern extending withinsaid annular spray pattern.

2. The head of claim 1 wherein said deflectors are in the form of flatdiscs so that the deflected fluid droplets are substantially the samesize as when discharged from said outlet.

1. A discharge head comprising a hollow body member having an inletadapted for connection to a source of fluid and an outlet fordischarging said fluid, a first deflector supported by said body memberin a spaced relation to said outlet, a plug for said outlet, thermalresponsive means supported by said first deflector and engaging saidplug for normally supporting said plug in said outlet, said means beingresponsive to a predetermined temperature in the vicinity of said headfor releasing said engagement and permitting the discharge of said plugand therefore said fluid from said outlet, said first deflector adaptedto deflect a portion of the fluid discharging from said outlet in anannular spray pattern and adapted to pass the remaining portion of saidfluid through a central opening formed therethrough, and a seconddeflector supported by said first deflector in a spaced relation to saidfirst deflector, the size of said second deflector being substantiallyequal to the size of said opening in said first deflector for deflectingsaid remaining portion of said fluid in a spray pattern extending withinsaid annular spray pattern.
 2. The head of claim 1 wherein saiddeflectors are in the form of flat discs so that the deflected fluiddroplets are substantially the same size as when discharged from saidoutlet.